Tuesday, February 19, 2013

‘D Wonder Twins of Boac’ and Philippine cinema

MANILA – It’s an old tale one can narrate over and over again – with
varying settings and back story – but one would still get the same
enchanting result.

The Philippine Educational Theater Association closes its 45th season
with a comedy-musical “D Wonder Twins of Boac,” a modern adaptation of
William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth night.” The play is directed by Maribel
Legarda

The story begins with twins Viola (Cris Villonco) and Bastian (Chrome
Cosio) from the small town of Boac in Marinduque. They spent their
childhood joining singing and dancing contests in their province, which,
in real life, is a reality for many Filipinos.

Their journey to Manila, however, was met with misfortune when Viola
lost Bastian in a shipwreck. Believing her brother to be dead, Viola
pursued their dreams until she, disguised as man named Cesar, was hired
as the Friday boy of Doc Orsino (Lex Marcos), owner of a big film studio
Campanilla Pictures.

There have been several adaptations of Twelfth Night that was
produced both in theater and in film, among the most recent was the
American film “She’s the Man,” (2006) where the character Viola was
struggling to prove herself as a soccer player, disguised as her
brother, to get into the school team.

As expected of PETA, its long tradition of theater did not fail its
audience as it adapted the classic literature to the Philippine context.
Its playwright Rody Vera said there was no other way to depict
Shakespeare’s duke and the rest of the cast than to set it during the
decline of the Golden Years of the Philippine Cinema, an aftermath of a
period in the country’s history where movie producers were treated as
royalty and their stars as minions.

“What a delightful setting where actors can overact, passion can
overflow, and comic twists and turns can aptly punctuate a fantasy world
all its own. And yet, the underlying rumblings of a movie industry that
is beginning to fall through slowly, is just the background of this
entire sensational, spectacular dazzle,” Vera said.

Though the setting was in the 1960s, the critique of the quality of
films that were being produced at that time still applies today. Many
believe or claim that there is now a reawakening of Philippine cinema as
more and more independent films are being produced.

Malvolio (Gino Ramirez, Lao Rodriguez), an award-winning director who
fancies Olivia, described the then emerging musical and comedy films as
“bakya” (literally wooden sandals), meaning unsophisticated. These
films, he said, treat their audience as if they were dumb.

Is his description not applicable to the themes of the films we have
today? Overused themes of films today are about a man who has to choose
between his wife and his mistress, love developing between a man and his
girl Friday, a mother looking for her lost child, a cruel stepmother
oppressing a step or adopted daughter who would later turn out to be a
scion of a rich family, and the list goes on.

Round stage and live music

The story is filled with varying levels of conflicts between and
among the characters and the characters, too, against themselves. But
Vera managed to weave the story smoothly; everything just fell into
place.

Their punchlines, though some were not exactly that new, were
delivered with timing and at the most unexpected circumstances. It
filled the theater with laughter.

The play, however, was not able to establish well how and when Viola
started to fall for Orsino, at least when one is not familiar with the
original Shakespeare piece.

The music was well written. And to everyone’s amazement, they played the piano live.

The production design by Lex Marcos, who also played Orsino, made use
of arena theater or theater-in-the-round with the audience sitting
around the stage. The director Maribel Legarda said during the press
preview that it was a challenge to the staff and crew on how they would
adjust to the round stage.

This is only the second time in Peta’s
history that it performed in an arena theater. And, bravo, they did.

Theater-in-the-round, of course, has its disadvantages because there
were scenes where the characters had to turn their backs on the
audience. But the good thing, too, is that you can sit anywhere in the
theater house and still get a good view of the play.

The play ends in a surprising twist. If you want a clue, here is an excerpt from the song “Ang Pelikula’y Isang Panaginip” (A film is a dream), which they sang in the end: “Ang pelikula’y isang panaginip na di tayo magigising. Ang akala nating happy ending ay may nakatago palang dillim.”